Pope Leo XIV to have lung nodule removed – surgery this week
The pope announced the operation himself at the Sunday noon prayer. The Vatican says it will take place early in the week at Rome's Gemelli hospital.
Archive image · Photo: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Pope Leo XIV will undergo lung surgery in the coming days. The head of the Catholic Church announced it himself on Sunday during the noon prayer in St Peter's Square. Doctors had found a nodule at a very early stage and recommended the procedure. "Following their advice, I have therefore decided to undergo an operation to remove it," the pope said, according to the AP news agency.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the operation is scheduled for the first days of the week at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where popes are traditionally treated. Recovery is expected to take about a week. The Vatican gave no further details about the findings. Leo XIV had no previously known health problems. A trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru is planned for early November; no changes to his schedule have been announced so far.